Salt HDMI Audio Extractor SW-33002

Let me tell you why I love the Salt HDMI Audio extractor (model #SW33002) which I bought from Sewell Direct [As of this writing it sells for $39.95]. I would also like to give love to ZettaGuard 4K x 2K, 4 port HDMI Switch (model #ZW410) [As of this writing it sells for $41.99 on Amazon], and the Cambridge SoundWorks OontZ Angle 3 PLUS Bluetooth speaker [As of this writing it sells for $35.00 on Amazon].

Late last year I purchased a 27″ AOC (model #i2777fq) monitor which was pretty good except until when it is time to listen to video soundtracks or play music. The monitor has built-in speakers which I didn’t expect to amaze but at least it has them. What really let me down is that the audio-out port/jack is almost really audio-out. If you connected a pair of headphones or an external speaker it seemed to strip out most if not all of the bass and maybe more. This really became obvious to me when I connected the OontZ Angle 3 PLUS Bluetooth speaker. The speaker sounds pretty good via Bluetooth to my PC or cellphone but when connected as wired to the monitor’s audio-out port/jack it actually sounded worse.

The AOC 27″ monitor has 1 x VGA, 1 x DisplayPort, 1 x MHL HDMI, and 1 HDMI ports. It currently sells for $199.99 on Amazon, and has a 4.5 star rating. Aside from the audio-issue and that the case scratches easily, I really like the image quality of the monitor. As a perhaps bonus, this 1920×1080 LCD has a DisplayPort input; I wish this was more common for ANY resolution HD+ display, not just 4K models. But I digress.

I needed to figure out a way to keep this great monitor and ditch the lousy audio. Unfortunately it meant loosing the ability to output audio from DisplayPort easily. I ended up getting the ZettaGuard HDMI Switch which allows me to connect my PC, Raspberry Pi 3, laptop, etc. to the AOC monitor. Additionally, I purchased the Salt HDMI Audio extractor which allows me to take the audio from any of those sources (i.e. the Raspberry Pi 3) and route it directly to my OontZ speaker. With this solution I resolved my audio issue and even expanded my connectivity so long as everything uses HDMI. Both the Salt HDMI and ZettaGuard support ARC (audio-return-channel) as well as up to 7.1 audio.

One dislike of the Salt HDMI audio extractor I have is the power connector is not right angle, which makes it harder to place. I mounted mine to the back of the monitor using 3M Dual Lock recloseable fasteners. I purchased a right angle adapter (DC 5.5 x 2.1mm, female-male) from a seller on eBay which was excellent quality.